The Issues around Personal Websites: Privacy

The first split most people try to make is between their "professional" information and their "personal" life. This usually ends-up creating a schizophrenic separation in a site not unlike many people's lives. Guiding people from one side to another is a challenge. This creates a "faith vs. security" connundrum. Some people take the Faith approach, trusting employers to click here and friends to click there. However, I can only imagine that the compulsion a potential employer must feel when they see a "Employers don't click here" sign must be too much to prevent them from not exploring that side of someone (often in extremely intimate detail). This boundary between the public and the private is probably best protected with password access (the Security approach). For example, on my own site, I have an area that is meant for my own access--especially when I travel. A very few close friends have the password but I continually get requests--often from complete strangers--for the password even though the site is labeled as "private." Incredibly, sometimes these strangers are offended when I won't relinquish my private password to them.

 

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